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India’s Emergency Buy of U.S. Javelin Missiles Adds Armor Punch and Co-Production Ambition.
India has moved to acquire 12 FGM-148 Javelin launchers and 104 missiles under an emergency procurement route to rapidly bolster infantry anti-armor capability. This urgent import is paired with a formal request to U.S. authorities seeking permission for Javelin co-production in India, coupling immediate capability with a long-term indigenization push.
On 23 October, 2025, India pushed an emergency acquisition of 12 FGM-148 Javelin launchers and 104 missiles to rapidly harden its infantry against armor threats, as reported by multiple Indian news agencies and especially Hindustan Times. The move lands amid a broader infantry modernization drive (new carbines, drone platoons, and light commando units) framed as an urgent capability plug before larger industrial choices are finalized. It is notable both for its timing, ahead of India's Infantry Day on 27 October, and for its exception to India’s usual import restraint. Officials also disclosed that India has asked Washington to authorize Javelin co-production in India, pairing speed now with indigenization later. These developments together mark a consequential inflection in India’s short-range anti-armor posture.
A soldier fires an FGM-148 Javelin, launching the anti-tank missile toward a distant armored target (Picture Source: U.S. Army)
The emergency procurement covers a modest but tactically significant tranche, 12 reusable Command Launch Units and 104 missiles, sized to seed high-priority formations while training and sustainment pipelines spin up. The Army’s Director General (Infantry), Lt Gen Ajay Kumar, confirmed the buy and placed it within a package that also includes 4.25 lakh indigenous close-quarter carbines, 380 Ashni drone platoons for ISR and loitering munitions, and the rollout of Bhairav light commando battalions. The near-term Javelin fielding is intended to remediate specific gaps along mountainous and urbanized sectors where man-portable, fire-and-forget weapons can be moved, fired from cover, and redeployed quickly.
The FGM-148 Javelin is a third-generation, man-portable anti-tank guided missile with an imaging-infrared seeker, soft-launch design for confined spaces, and selectable top-attack/direct-attack modes. Its top-attack profile is optimized to defeat the thinner roof armor of tanks, while the tandem HEAT warhead is designed to overcome explosive reactive armor. A disposable launch tube mates to a reusable day/night sighting CLU, allowing teams to cycle missiles while retaining the sensor. Operationally, the Javelin’s true value lies in its fire-and-forget employment and shoot-and-scoot survivability, particularly for dispersed infantry in complex terrain.
Javelin has been in U.S. service since the 1990s and has seen extensive, recent combat use, most prominently in Ukraine, where small, mobile teams leveraged its portability and top-attack profile to attrit armored columns in the opening phases of Russia’s invasion. While no single munition is decisive, the system’s ease of use, thermal sighting, and lethality at typical ambush distances have been repeatedly documented by Western militaries and analysts. These lessons map closely to Indian concerns along both northern and western land borders: dispersed operations, cluttered sightlines, rapid displacement, and the need to hold armor at risk without heavy platforms in tow.
India has several anti-tank lines of effort, but each sits at a different maturity tier. DRDO’s MPATGM has advanced through trials and is nearing induction, yet still awaits volume fielding and production ramp decisions. The Nag family provides heavier, vehicle- and helicopter-launched options (Helina/Dhruvastra) rather than a backpacked, shoulder-fired niche. India has also bought limited lots of Israeli Spike ATGMs under emergency routes since 2019–2021, providing important stopgaps but not a standardized, Army-wide man-portable baseline. Against this backdrop, an EP-route Javelin tranche gives units a battle-proven, fire-and-forget, top-attack weapon immediately while New Delhi pursues co-production to localize supply, training, and sustainment. In short: Javelin answers an urgent, light-infantry requirement now; indigenous and JV paths continue in parallel.
Militarily, distributing Javelin sections across high-priority battalions raises the attrition risk for adversary armor and breaching elements, complicating planning for rapid thrusts in mountain valleys and built-up approaches. That effect is magnified when paired with Ashni drone platoons for ISR cueing and loitering strike, and with Bhairav units optimized for rapid, decentralized actions, an ecosystem that shortens sensor-to-shooter timelines at the tactical edge. Geostrategically, the purchase underscores India’s hedging approach: buying limited U.S. capability under emergency rules while continuing indigenous ATGM programs and selective Israeli buys. Diplomatic frictions with Washington this year have not derailed defense-industrial contacts; in fact, a formal Indian Letter of Request seeks U.S. approval to co-produce Javelin domestically, a significant marker if cleared. This balances immediate deterrence with longer-term industrial autonomy and diversifies away from single-supplier dependencies.
India has not publicly disclosed the value of this specific emergency lot for 12 launchers and 104 missiles. However, on the supplier side, the Javelin Joint Venture (Raytheon/Lockheed Martin) continues to operate under large U.S. Army production awards, including a follow-on FY25 contract valued up to $900.5 million that also supports Foreign Military Sales, most recently extending to new users such as Brazil and Tunisia, and an earlier FY24 award reported at $1.3 billion within a multiyear framework ceiling up to $7.2 billion through 2026. These awards indicate a hot production line and robust replenishment demand that India can tap in near-term deliveries while a co-production decision is assessed. If India finalizes a JV or licensed-production path, that would shift future outlays toward domestic content and sustainment.
The Javelin EP purchase is not a repudiation of aatmanirbharata; it is a timing call. It buys time and survivability for infantry units today, integrates with drones and light forces coming online, and keeps strategic optionality, either to standardize on an indigenous MPATGM as it matures, to license-build Javelin if Washington approves, or to maintain a mixed inventory tailored by theater. Given recent reporting on bilateral friction, the continued movement on Javelin underscores the resiliency of defense-industrial channels when operational urgency and shared threat assessments align.
A limited yet potent emergency buy of Javelin missiles gives Indian infantry a credible, man-portable counter-armor edge at the very moment the Army is fielding drones, new carbines, and rapid-strike units. By pairing immediate import with a formal request to co-produce, New Delhi is signaling a pragmatic sequence: close the gap now, anchor autonomy next, and keep multiple pathways open as domestic MPATGM and Nag-family programs mature. The result is a sharper near-term deterrent and a clearer bridge toward the industrial sovereignty India seeks.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.